Thank you to our generous OLSH community

We finished our term with a wonderful celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. Our Feast Day mass was a beautiful start to this very special day, with joyful singing and a lovely feeling of our OLSH spirit filling the hall. Father Mark presented a wonderful homily and made mention of the energetic spirit of the students, staff and visitors participating in the mass. 

Then it was on to a day of fun and fundraising for the OLSH Sisters’ mission work in Cebu in the Philippines. The theme was ‘Heroes of History’ and we saw a great range of costumes representing figures from centuries ago, right through to present day heroes. There were sporting figures, wild-life warriors, women pioneers and everyday people who are heroes to us. The delicious food offerings, rides, raffles and stalls raised more than $20,000, for the mission work of the OLSH Sisters in Cebu in the Philippines. 

Thank you to everyone for their generosity and to our staff and students for assisting with preparations for the day. Thank you also to local suppliers and families who supported our food stalls:

• Seven Stars restaurant in East Bentleigh for providing Fried Rice
• South Melbourne Market Dim Sims and the Cheng family for supplying dim sims
• Markos Greek Kitchen Bar for providing souvlaki ingredients
• Hello Sam Burger Bar in East Bentleigh, Metro Canteens and the Mercuri Family for donating vouchers for our Spinning Wheel
• Peter’s Ice Cream and parent Suzi Finucci for providing ice-cream for our stall
• Parent Denise Pisano for making 85^th birthday cookies for us to sell

Yr 10 Retreat Day with Chris Doyle (Karis Ministries)

Our Year 10s had their Retreat Day recently, with Chris Doyle from Karis Ministries. Here are some of their reflections:

'We really enjoyed having Chris come and speak to us today as it gave us another look on life. Chris' words of inspiration taught us to not take anything for granted. We learnt to be grateful for everyday and to count our blessings. The dancing and singing really brightened our day and we heavily enjoyed it. We found Chris' jokes really funny and they made us laugh.'

'We had so much fun getting to dance and get up and about. The music was on point and you always knew what songs would get us moving. Thanks you so much Chris for coming down to Melbourne and helping us to have so much fun.' 

'Thank you Chris so much for deepening our connection with our peers and friends and giving us a better understanding of ourselves as people. We had a great time, you're very funny, and we learned so much today. We learned to not take anything for granted, to be selfless people and to love life! We hope that you keep teaching and doing what you do!!! Thank you so much.'

'From todays last activity we were reminded:

• be grateful for what we have
• don't take life too seriously
• don't worry about the future
• appreciate music and dance
• enjoy the little things.'

'Thank you for sharing your wisdom and knowledge in a way that was fun and entertaining Chris. We loved all the information we learned and really enjoyed breaking into song! We have learnt some valuable lessons that we will take with us in life. We wish you well in life and thank you for coming all this way to see us.

• be faithful
• be grateful for everyday things in life
• name 100 things we love about life
• sing together
• dance together
• learn about the importance of love.'

'Today we had the pleasure of meeting Chris, he taught us that each day we make thousands of choices, but above all, we need to choose to be happy and kind. He brought us together and encouraged us to get involved and cheer each other on. He exceeded all expectations we had for this day. Overall we had an amazing Year 10 retreat day filled with laughing, dancing, singing and some iconic duets.'

Ms Megan Donohue
Deputy Principal Faith and Mission

Year 11 insights about Judaism

This term the Year 11 students have been participating in religious education rotations.

Each week, we have a different religious education teacher who teaches us a specific topic of interest to them. One of our fabulous teachers, Ms Rynderman has been teaching us about her religion, Judaism, and many of us developed questions about the faith. A fantastic opportunity presented itself, for a Rabbi – a Jewish religious leader - to answer our queries.

On Friday 1^st September, the Year 11 cohort gathered in the PAC for a Q&A with Rabbi Andrew Saffer. Rabbi Saffer talked to us about all things pertaining to the faith – prayer, his experiences becoming a Rabbi, special days in the Jewish calendar and Jewish rituals.

He started off by giving us a traditional Jewish bread (challah) that is typically served on a Friday night Shabbat dinner.

We all had a lovely time engaging with Rabbi Saffer and gaining insight into Judaism from somebody who is so involved and enthusiastic about the religion.

Holly and Lily - Year 11

Australian Catholics Magazine

As we head into the holidays, here are a couple of articles in the latest edition of Australian Catholics Magazine that you may wish to read - Safe spaces, following on from Child Protection Week last week and Fast fashion is a horror show, exploring the impact of fast fashion on workers and our planet.

You will need to log in with the email address parents@olsh.vic.edu.au and password acparents.

Australian Catholics is Australia’s only national print magazine for Catholics of all ages and all walks of life and is distributed throughout Australia to Catholic parishes and schools.